“June 10th” Virtual Space of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic in the Virtual World of Second Life

[NOTE: June 10th is a national holiday in Portugal, commemorating Portugal and the Portuguese Communities around the world]

Opening: June 9, 10 AM GMT
In a landscape dominated by the ecological harmony with the environment, elements of Portugal’s history and culture are combined with futuristic architectonical designs, recreated in 3D and with multimedia. The island is surrounded by green areas and recreations of some animals like dolphins, whales, and birds, with which interaction is possible.

Virtual tour of the “June 10th” Virtual Space of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic in the Virtual World of Second Life

Links:

Description of all areas in the Virtual Space of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic in Second Life [1]

How to reach the Virtual Space of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic in Second Life [2]

Second Life event schedule [3]

Production team for the Virtual Space of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic in Second Life [4]

[1] Description of all areas in the Virtual Space of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic in Second Life

“Armilar” Auditorium

This space includes multimedia-reproduction devices allowing live video and audio transmission inside the virtual world, allowing conferences and interaction with real world events. It also includes facilities for remote learning.

“Portugal 12-21 Identity” Exhibition

A futuristic building in glass and open space, representing the bow of a “Nau” (early Portuguese caravel) emerging from the ground to set for sea. The building contains a digital reproduction of all Exhibition objects and is the first national exhibition created in 3D. All the information about the objects is available in writing and in audio through a touch-to-play-sound-stream multimedia device, as well as notecards.

Museum of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

This building has two floors. The ground floor shows the most relevant historical pictures of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic. The upper floor has portraits of all Presidents. These are interactive, and, when touched, will provide all the information regarding each President, in Portuguese and English.

The Museum also provides virtual versions of all objects that can be bought from its (real) Shop. This space is connected to the website of the Museum and shows its physical, geographic location to invite potential tourists in Portugal to visit the real space.

The Museum uniforms were recreated from the real uniforms; thus, José António Tenente, through his fashion design for the Museum, is Portugal’s first fashion designer with a virtual presence in Second Life.

Visitors can also interact with the website for the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic at the rooftop of the Museum, as well as with its social networks, via a “Communication Tree” where the visitor can display the many presences of the Presidency on Sapo Videos, YouTube, Flickr, and Twitter. The website can also be viewed in-world.

A display also provides information about the Portuguese Honour Orders.

Poetry Belvedere

At this belvedere the visitor can listen and read to 25 poems by Portuguese authors about the protection of a statue of a woman in black who looks at the sea, invoking the images associated with Fado [a traditional Portuguese song style] and “Saudade” [an unique Portuguese state of mind that can be roughly translated as “nostalgia”, although in Portuguese it can stand for “nostalgia of the present and the future” and not only of the past].

“Past and Future Treasure” Space

Through a simulated treasure hunt, the users will be invited to explore a hidden underwater cave where the imagined world of the epic “The Lusiads” of the great Portuguese poet Camoes has been recreated with models of Portugal’s first king, D. Afonso Henriques, the Republic, and several objects of Portugal’s History — all set in a maze which invites the discovery of a secret at the end.

Here will be a magical astrolabe [nautical navigation device used by the Portuguese navigators] which will teleport the users to a sea of stars, where a caravel sails towards the future.

The Portuguese-speaking countries of the world are represented by a world map. Light beams show the location of those countries on the map. At the Light Pier (near the Lighthouse), these countries are also represented by their national flags, with links to their website or to their page on the Commonwealth of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP).

[2] How to reach the Virtual Space of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic in Second Life

The Virtual Space of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic in Second Life will have two entries:

If you are a new user of Second Life, use this link to go to the Tagus Orientation Area. This is a welcome area for Portuguese speakers and you will find there all the needed help and support to enter this virtual world

If you already are a user of Second Life, you can enter through this link, which will send you directly to the Virtual Space of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Around the whole virtual space, a group of Portuguese volunteers, currently living around the world, as well as on the Portuguese-speaking countries, will help visitors out and explain them the significance of this space.